1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to toilets and to the ventilation thereof; in particular, this invention relates to toilets used in mobile homes and recreational vehicles; and, more particularly, this invention relates to the ventilation of toilets used in mobile homes and recreational vehicles by using air circulation devices ventilatively connected to the toilet and having direct outside access from the enclosed mobile dwelling.
2. State of the Art
It is widely known that bathrooms seem to be an unending source of unpleasant, noxious and even unhealthful odors. Those who must live in proximity to bathrooms, in, for example, adjacent bedrooms will, at least on occasion, desire that the bathroom be ventilated. In recreational vehicles, mobile homes and the like, the compactness of the mobile dwelling and the resultant close proximity of all the interior of the mobile dwelling to every other portion of the interior makes the entire living quarters susceptible to an objectionable olfactory assault from the bathroom. One solution to the problem created by such assault is, after the objectionable odors are detected, the occupants vacate the premises for a while. That is, in essence, to sit on the porch while the odors disparate. But this fairly poor solution is obviously impractical during winter or other sorts of foul weather. Since more and more people now live in mobile dwellings as their primary residences, an effective solution to the special odor problem created in these compact living quarters is important.
A wide variety of possible solutions to the problem of odor from the bathroom have been tried, but the problem persists. Solutions for the generic problem of odors from toilets typically address the problem created by the larger toilets found in free standing homes and similar structures, and include various ventilation apertures in the toilet seat vented to the outside, either the roof or the side of the structure. These solutions require seats with a substantial depth, that is the dimension from the toilet to the seating surface must be large enough to house the plumbing required by the seat lid to adequately ventilate the toilet. In the toilets used in mobile homes, recreational vehicles and the like, hereinafter referred to as mobile dwellings, the toilet seat tends to have nearly dimension-less thicknesses. The toilet seats in these toilets are frequently a single piece of shaped sheet plastic that fits over the bowl of the specialized toilet. Moreover, the mobile dwellings most in need of odor control are the smaller more compact models; the smaller, the more critical the need. Of course, these smaller mobile dwellings are precisely the models where the use of bulky add-on apparatus to the existing structure or the need for massive reconstruction of the mobile dwelling to accommodate new structures are the most prohibitive.